Brooks' tuner shutters on Sunday

Brooks, the show’s auteur, and his backer, a former financier, have been holding on for dear “Life” since the show opened Oct. 20 and was clobbered by critics. They’ve poured nearly $2 million into a marketing campaign positioning the production as an underdog to root for.

Written, composed and directed by Brooks, the songwriter behind “You Light Up My Life,” the musical follows a budding romance that, complicated by Tourette’s syndrome and a brain tumor, becomes the subject of a reality opera staged in heaven for God.